The ability to be born, develop, reproduce and die is known as life. The concept also refers to the activity carried out by an organic being and to existence in a broad or general sense.
Worthy, on the other hand, is what has dignity: that is, it has an acceptable quality or excellence. Dignity, in other words, is something that can be used or indulged without shame or disgrace. The idea of a dignified life is associated with the existence that a person can lead when satisfying their basic needs. On the other hand, those who cannot satisfy these basic needs cannot have a decent life.
It is important to keep in mind that what is meant by a decent life varies according to people and cultures. It is common, as we said before, that a decent life is linked to the possibility of sleeping at home, eating every day and having access to education and health services, among other issues considered essential for the survival and development of human beings. However, an individual can be a millionaire and have all his material needs satisfied, but, in turn, not have a decent life, since he has based his fortune on criminal activities. The concept of a dignified life also appears when a person is going through a terminal illness. There are those who argue that when the individual is no longer able to defend himself, goes through great pain and suffers from an illness that will inevitably lead to death, he cannot have a dignified life: therefore, he deserves to have the possibility of choosing when to die. (euthanasia). Precisely in this line, it is worth noting the existence of a web space called Vida Digna and that revolves around the aforementioned euthanasia, assisted suicide and achieving a life as dignified as possible, worthy of dismissal, until the end. In this space, among other things, for example, arguments for and against euthanasia are discussed. In relation to the latter, the reasons for rejection, it establishes that accepting it is a way of indicating that the choice of death is the way to end the problems and that it is about “attacking” the legal system. The current legislation on a decent life, the general trend in this regard in other countries or the books that address it are also fundamental elements that make up the content of this website. One of the people who fought the most for a dignified death at the time was the renowned Spaniard Ramón Sampedro, whose life inspired the film “Mar Adentro” (2004) directed by Alejandro Amenábar and starring Javier Bardem and Belén Rueda. He having recognized his right to die, after spending 30 years in bed due to quadriplegia, was what he defended at all times. And it was that he considered that this was the way to have a dignified life and death. He wrote books, gave interviews and finally achieved his goal of dying, although there are unknowns about it.
